Sunday, May 11, 2008

Planning

Ask a room of people who would like to make $1 million dollars and you'll probably find that most hands are high in the air. Now ask, of those people with their hands up to leave them up if they ACTUALLY have a plan to make $1 million dollars? I will bet that almost every hand in the room will drop.

Interesting isn't it? The gulf between desire and achievement is very wide for most people. Most seem happy to wish, wish, wish for something, hoping with blind luck that they'll achieve their goals. There is a chance that they will, don't get me wrong, but generally that chance is so slim that it isn't worth contemplating but there still is a CHANCE. So how do you increase the odds of achieving something you desire? Planning.

If you want to get somewhere what do you need? Two things. One, you need to know where you currently are and two, you need to know how to get where you want to go. Planning helps you work out how to get where you want to go. Planning is really not of benefit once you are in motion it needs to be done before you act. Now, I'm not saying that you won't have to adjust your plans along the path to your goals but planning involves investment up front before committing resources towards the goal.

Planning may also help you realize that perhaps the goal that you thought you wanted is not really what you wanted after all. Smart people and businesses plan. Why? Simple, they want to increase their chances of success. You can never guarantee success in this life as luck does play a part but planning greatly improves your odds so the chances of failure are almost minimal.

If it is so simple why doesn't everybody do it, you may well ask. Again, simple. Planning requires work, effort, sweat, investment, etc prior to any result. In today's society we have brainwashed into the concept of have now, pay later. That works for a while but sooner or later the bills come in (sorta sounds like the current financial mess the world is in at the moment eh?). I am always surprised by the number of people I know who live by the seat of their pants. Many seem to be able to skate by but I know that sooner or later there is bus with their name on it coming around the corner.

Sure planning does involve work up front but it is a little like financial interest, you gotta invest before you can get paid any interest don't you? The more you invest the bigger the payoff becomes right? Problem is most people want to start drawing on their interest BEFORE they have even invested a dollar. Come on, get real. Don't waste your time telling me you're going to be a millionaire unless you are going to tell me how you are planning to do it. Anyone can claim they are going to be a millionaire, very few can actually back it up with a plan!